CHITTOOR/TIRUPATI: In a major haul, the Chittoor police have seized 290 red sander logs weighing three tonnes worth Rs 1.5 crore and a Bolero. The police arrested 18 smugglers in two different locations at Palamangalam village junction and Pandulaiah Kona Konda.
In the wee hours of Saturday, a police team led by Narayanavanam, KVB Puram and Pichhatoor SIs Priyanka, M Nagarjuna Reddy and Sri Kanth Reddy arrested four persons and seized 20 red sander logs and a Bolero on Uthukottai-Puttur highway road near Palamangalam junction at Narayanavanam. The action was taken under the supervision of Sub Divisional Police Officer(SDPO) TD Yaswanth, following the orders from Superintendent of Police (SP) S Senthil Kumar.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the police seized 270 more red sander logs and arrested 14 persons at Pandulaiah Kona Konda on Sada Siva Kona road. Among the 18 arrested, three belong to KVB Puram village while 15 belong to Thiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, the police informed.
Logs seized from warehouse near Chennai
The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force conducted raids at a godown at Vichoor, an industrial area near Chennai, and seized 2.086 tonnes of logs worth Rs 1.5 crore. According to Meda Sundar Rao, Superintendent of Police, Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force, the agency seized 7 red sander logs at Athimanucherla base camp near Karakambadi road and arrested one Surendra from KVB puram mandal in Chittoor district on Friday.
“Acting on the information given by Surendra, a team led by Circle Inspector Venkata Ravi and SI Suresh Kumar Reddy raided a scrap godown at Vichoor in Ponneri Taluk near Chennai on Friday night. The accused have dumped the logs under the scrap. However, the teams unearthed the dump and seized 170 logs from the godown,” the SP said.
The contraband was covertly kept ready to unlawfully export in two or three days from the godown which is close to the Chennai Port, Sundar Rao said. Godown keepers Beeda Rafi, Farooq are at large. Circle Inspector Venkata Ravi has been investigating the case and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the two accused.